Lok Sabha polls 2014: AAP's Jaaved Jaaferi, Adarsh Shastri file nominations from Lucknow

LUCKNOW: The Aam Aadmi Party has landed in yet another embarrassing situation. Apprehending that party's Lucknow candidate Jaaved Jaaferi's nomination might be rejected because of 'some anomalies' in his voter registration, the AAP also made Adarsh Shastri file his nomination as a "covering candidate". Both filed their papers on the last day for nominations on Wednesday.

Jaaferi, who lives in Mumbai, sources said, had last voted in 2008. Thereafter, his name got deleted from the voters' list and he was not registered as a voter anywhere in India. When party decided to field him from Lucknow, Jaaferi applied online to get himself listed as a voter in Lucknow at the eleventh hour. The last date for voter registration was March 30. His name was included in the voters' list on April 7.

However, sources said, there was 'some anomaly' in the voter ID card. As a result, party asked Adarsh Shastri, who has been fielded from Allahabad, to come to Lucknow overnight and file his nomination from the Lucknow seat as well. AAP leaders say that in case the Election Commission rejects Jaaferi's nomination, Adarsh Shastri will be official candidate of the party in Lucknow. The name of Shastri, who is a grandson of former prime minister late Lal Bahadur Shastri, was selected for Lucknow but later he was replaced by Jaaferi. The local AAP unit had opposed Jaaferi's selection.

AAP's state spokesperson Vaibhav Maheshwari rubbished reports of anomalies in Jaaferi's papers. He said that there is a provision of putting up a "covering candidate". "The apprehension was because of delay on the part of the government officials to include Jaaferi's name in the voters' list. The party had asked Adarsh Shastri in advance to be ready with his papers as a precautionary measure because Lucknow is an important seat and we do not want to give walkover to opposition parties," he said.